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Objective: To compare the frequency and healthfulness of foods being advertised to children and adolescents in four countries of WHO European region., Design: Cross-sectional quantitative study, guided by an adapted version of the WHO protocol. All recorded food advertisements were categorised by categories and as either 'permitted' or 'not permitted' for advertising to children in accordance with WHO Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model., Settings: Four countries: Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan., Participants: TV channels most popular among children and adolescents., Results: Analysis included 70 d of TV broadcasting for all channels, during which time there were 28 399 advertisements. The mean number of advertisements per hour varied from eleven in Turkey and Kazakhstan to eight and two in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. In all countries, the majority of the food and beverages advertised should not be permitted for advertising to children according to the WHO Nutrient Profile Model. The mean number of non-permitted food and beverage advertisements per hour was high in Turkey and Kazakhstan (8·8 and 8·5 ads) compared with Russia (5·1) and Kyrgyzstan (1·9). Turkey was the only country where nutritional information was fully available, and no values were missing that prevented coding for some product categories., Conclusions: Results revealed that children and adolescents in four countries are exposed to a considerable volume of food and beverage advertisements, including sugary products on broadcast television. As such, policymakers should consider protecting youth by developing regulations to restrict these marketing activities within media popular with children.

Objectives: Complementary feeding should provide a healthy diet with critical nutrients for growth and development. Information is limited on child and infant feeding recommendations within the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region., Methods: The WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) performed a survey of national recommendations on infant and young child nutrition aimed at national government departments of health and national paediatric experts. Questions addressed national recommendations on breast-feeding and complementary feeding., Results: Information was available from 48 of the 53 Member States. Forty-five of 48 countries (94%) have national recommendations on infant and young child feeding, of which 41 are endorsed by official public health authorities. Regarding introduction of complementary feeding, 25 countries (out of 34, 74%) recommend 6 months of age as the ideal age. The earliest age of introduction recommended varies from 4 to 5 months in (31/38 countries, 82%) to 6 months (6/38, 16%) and 7 months (1/38, 2.6%). The recommended meal composition varies widely; introduction of iron-rich foods (meat, fish, eggs) at the age of 6 months is recommended in 30 out of 43 countries, whereas 13 (30%) recommend later introduction., Conclusions: National infant feeding recommendations vary widely between studied countries and partly differ from international recommendations. Too early introduction of complementary feeding can reduce duration of exclusive breast-feeding (EBF). Too late introduction of iron-rich complementary foods might increase anemia risk and adversely affect child development. A review and further harmonization of national recommendations appears desirable.

The intrinsic mid-infrared optical absorption of a ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AlF(3)-NaF (ZBLAN) glass has been determined by combining laser calorimetry and spark-source mass spectrographic analysis. The total optical absorption of four samples of varying purity was measured at 3.9 microm with laser calorimetry. The extrinsic contribution to the total absorption for each glass was calculated from the measured concentration of rare-earth impurity ions and known extinction coefficients. The intrinsic absorption of this glass at 3.9 microm determined from the difference between the total measured absorption and the calculated extrinsic absorption is 6.11 (+/-0.61) x 10(-4) cm(-1).

A Fabry-Perot-type interferometer is described that permits the concurrent measurement of the coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) and the thermooptic coefficient (dn/dT) of transparent materials. Measurements of the a and the dn/dT of vitreous silica and a heavy-metal fluoride glass show that the technique is accurate, reproducible, and easily performed. In addition, the technique is used to show that the dn/dT of heavy-metal fluoride glasses is negative and temperature dependent. The magnitude of dn/dT is found to increase with increasing temperature.